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A review by isabezza
The Trees by Percival Everett
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
3.75
The Trees is a gory and psychologically engaging thriller with a historically accurate theme of social justice and racial hatred. I considered this novel informative on many levels as it exposed the extreme violence subjected to black bodies in the USA throughout history. Interestingly, without a time frame given at the beginning of the narrative, I assumed this book was set pre 1960's for a few chapters based on the horrific and outdated behaviours of many characters, before cultural clues and modern technology appeared in the text resulting in my realisation that is story is representing a possibility in the PRESENT DAY. For this and many other factors, the story was eye-opening. I also enjoyed the more light hearted elements of the text, such as the brotherly banter between detectives Ed and Jim and the not-so-generous hilarious representation of Trump (although his name was not explicitly mentioned.)
My only criticisms of this book was the amount of characters becoming too complex to follow when the crimes depicted are supernatural and bizarre enough. Additionally, the writing style was a little aggravating, with "Jim said," "Ed said," etc. after every sentence of dialogue, but try not to let this get in the way of how exciting the story is.
My only criticisms of this book was the amount of characters becoming too complex to follow when the crimes depicted are supernatural and bizarre enough. Additionally, the writing style was a little aggravating, with "Jim said," "Ed said," etc. after every sentence of dialogue, but try not to let this get in the way of how exciting the story is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Violence, Murder, Gore, Genocide, Racial slurs, Grief, Racism, and Hate crime